Dunwoody mayor, councilwoman working out differences

Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis and Councilwoman Adrian Bonser met with a mediator at City Hall Oct. 23 in an effort to resolve the ethics charges that have dragged on for months.

Bonser and Davis worked with mediator Norman Fletcher, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Georgia, Dunwoody spokesman Bob Mullen said.

“We’re not at liberty to talk about anything. But I believe we made progress,” Bonser said.

Earlier this year, Davis and the other members of City Council filed an ethics complaint against Bonser, claiming she leaked information about a property transaction from one of the city’s executive sessions, a legal closed-door meeting.

Shortly after, Bonser filed complaints against the mayor and council, claiming that they held an inappropriate closed meeting and did not provide proper notice to the public. She also accused Davis of threatening her and asking her to resign.

The city has spent a significant amount of money on the City Council’s ethics issues, paying about $50,000 for a report investigating the leak of confidential information from executive sessions and paying an ethics board attorney $150 an hour.

In September, The Dunwoody Board of Ethics urged Davis and Bonser to seek mediation before the board scheduled a formal ethics hearing.

Bonser said nothing has been finalized, but the city council will likely be able to avoid an ethics hearing.

Mike Davis

“My understanding was that this was the last time we’ll need to meet with the mediator,” Bonser said. “The mediation is specifically to avoid the formal hearing, which will be extremely expensive and time consuming.”

She added that the city will likely make more details public soon.

“I’m hoping that we’re able to bring it to a conclusion. It’s still open right now but we’re working towards a resolution,” Bonser said. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to get there.”